Skillet Carbonara with Courgette Ribbons
Eggs, cream, and pancetta over zucchini ribbons. No pasta water, no draining, one pan.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 80
- protein
- 30 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 22 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Smoked pancetta | 5 oz | diced; cubed bacon or lardons work the same |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Whole eggs | 2 | |
| Egg yolks | 2 | |
| Heavy cream | 1/4 cup | double cream if you can get it |
| Parmesan | 3/4 cup grated | grate at home, it keeps for days in a cooler |
| Garlic | 2 cloves | crushed, left whole |
| Courgettes | 2 medium | zucchini; ribboned with a peeler |
| Coarse black pepper | 1 tsp | |
| Sea salt | a small pinch |
Method
- Whisk the whole eggs, yolks, cream, parmesan, and pepper in a mug or bowl. Do this first so it is ready the second the pan comes off the heat.
- Warm the oil in a skillet over a low flame and add the pancetta. Let it render slowly until the edges go brown and there is a pool of fat.
- Add the crushed garlic for one minute, then pull it out before it burns.
- Raise the heat and add the courgette ribbons. Two or three minutes, tossing, until they slump but still have some spine. They will throw off water; let it cook off.
- Take the pan off the stove completely and count to twenty. This is the step people skip and it is the step that decides whether you get sauce or scrambled eggs.
- Pour in the egg mixture and stir constantly. The residual heat thickens it in under a minute. If it stays loose, set the pan back over the lowest flame for a few seconds at a time.
- Taste before salting. The pancetta and parmesan already brought most of it.
Carbonara at a campsite normally means a big pot of boiling water, a colander, and a grey-water tank you did not want to fill. Ribboned courgette skips all of it. You get the same job done by the same sauce, in one skillet, with no water carried or dumped.
The sauce is an emulsion, not a scramble, and the only thing standing between the two is pan temperature. Take the skillet fully off the burner before the eggs go in. Camp stoves run hotter and less evenly than a home range, so give it longer off the heat than you think you need. The courgette also releases water as it cooks; drive that off first or the sauce will never tighten.
Packing
Pancetta, cream, and grated parmesan ride in the cooler. Crack the eggs and yolks into a leakproof bottle at home and shake them with the cream; that kills the risk of shells in the pan and one less thing to break in transit.
Variations
- No cooler: swap in shelf-stable diced salami and a can of evaporated milk for the cream. Powdered eggs will not emulsify the same way, so expect a thinner sauce.
- Add a handful of frozen peas with the courgette if you want something green that is not the noodle.
https://www.baldhiker.com/creamy-keto-carbonara-recipe